Regarding Christmas and Coming Hope

So this year I've taken it upon myself to use the Christmas season to present the Gospel as it appears in the Bible. I don't intend for this post to be a public discussion, but more of a chance for personal examination. I'm not out to prove anything or argue the scientific feasibility of miracles. I don't care about Creationism or Evolution or any other sort of social issue at hand between Christianity and the rest of the world. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns that you would like answered feel free to send me a message and I will take the time to answer it to the best of my ability (because I have lots of time.....maybe not so much ability). I'm not looking for anything from anybody in posting this, I'm more trying to inaugurate a personal tradition (which means you can expect this every year), because it seems like Christmas involves everything except the in depth presentation of what traditional Christianity holds to be true regarding the birth of Jesus.

~Regarding Sin and our Need of Rescue.~

Most of us know the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. So I'm just going to highlight the fall of man here for the purpose of making this all relevant. An important, and often missed, detail concerns the fruit that Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan to eat. Was the fruit important? Probably, but we can gain more significance from the act of eating. Looking at the dialog between Adam, Eve, and the serpent we see that Adam and Eve, though tempted, made an active decision to disobey God (Genesis 3). It's true that they were tempted, and they couldn't so much control what was being said to them, but they intellectually submitted their personal authority to the idea that was presented to them. Adam and Eve, having received the information about the fruit, evaluated it and decided to go with the Serpent. Now the fruit of the tree was the knowledge of good and evil. This is important because God had plans for Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had the opportunity to learn this concept from God himself, but they chose to understand it in their own limited capacity.

So that was Adam, and Eve...what about me? For the most part, we're all making our own decisions in the same exact way that they did. Filtering our own input of information, and relying on our own interpretation of world events. We're exactly the same as Adam and Eve. But we're not just victims of an inherited condition (even though it is inherited in a way), we actively ignore outside input and rely on our own capabilities. Christian and non-Christian alike. This is the essence of sin. Now when talking about sin we could easily get on a moral superiority kick, and I really don't want that to happen. Morality is a human response to a deep seated, and spiritual problem. Sin isn't just lying, or stealing. It's the feeling of shame, the concept of failure and guilt. It's the root of fear and helplessness. Sin is the chain that holds you down. We address these things on a solely moral level because we feel like it gives us power but it really does nothing. It's just like Adam and Eve covering their nakedness with leaves, and hiding from God. Do the leaves adequately cover their nakedness, or address the guilt that they felt? Did hiding provide them any sort of comfort? No, the guilt of their nakedness remained (leaves or no leaves), and even though they hid in shame they were found out, revealed. You could say that morality, for the most part, is a sinful way of responding to sin. Here's what I mean: The whole concept of morality is like putting a band-aid on a severed limb. Not nearly enough to staunch the flow of blood. In addition to the band-aid/dismemberment illustration imagine that you're traveling somewhere and need to climb a ledge get a better vantage point to see the road ahead. But the ledge is too high and the rock surface surrounding it gives no hand hold. So you just stand there, grab a fist full of hair and try to pull yourself up. We are, all of us, trying to do that very thing, pull ourselves up by our own hair. You can take a moment and see the issues in your life where you try to do this, be it your struggling marriage, some sort of addiction, some primal and crippling fear, depression and anxiety. In all these things humanity is helpless, because no man can make it to that ledge on his own. We're all a bunch of gory one armed people pulling out our own hair. Even if we looked to the needs of each other, would couldn't possibly address them. We need somebody that can preform surgery for the missing limb, and stretch a hand down to help us up. But looking around we just see a bunch of armless and hairless people struggling in the same way we are. God's incarnation in Jesus Christ presents us with that surgeon, and is the hand stretching down from the ledge.

Jesus and the Incarnation

What we have in Jesus is the perfect remedy for our existing situation. His presence in the world is akin to a military medic wading through our dismemberment to heal and dress our wounds. Those things that we are afraid, and ashamed of. Those hopeless failures in our lives, the racking guilt of past decisions. These are the present concerns of Jesus. The important and central truth in Christianity is that God, in his fullness, became a man. That he might walk through our world with us, being subject just like we are to hunger, sadness, grief, and anxiety; yet at the same time possessing in himself an ultimate, divine solution. He is the only man on that ledge. In order for mankind to be free from our own morality, for us to stop trying to pull ourselves up by our own hair God himself became one of us, that he would be a new kind of Adam. A man that depended solely upon divine input for his life. It all comes down to the matter of birth, death and rebirth (or resurrection). God became Man so that man would be recreated. The only way for us to be free from this world is death. Jesus came that he might die for us, and being the only one who has been truly obedient, his death is the only thing that can reverse the death we have through Adam (and ourselves). Which is the death of failure, and shame. Through his sacrifice on the cross he not only dresses our wounds, but replaces what was missing, and in his resurrection he stands on the ledge, not to pull us up, but from there to guide us through the remainder of our lives. To replace our input with his, which is in effect to free us from our own personal tyranny and helpless effort. The rest of life as a Christian then consists of living in the presence of spiritually replaced values, and convictions. It is to live in the world as if we were not living in it at all. To depend on God's miraculous input above all else. We believe that Jesus will return and when that happens, our sources of input will become permanent.

Merry Christmas

~For to us a child has been born~

(Isaiah. 9:6)

Life as Art - A letter to my readers.

Hi All,

So you have no doubt noticed that I do not write with great frequency these days, and it's not that I am lacking any sort of peace of mind or inner stillness or anything like that, but more that I seem to have reached the end of my skills as they exist naturally within my person. Don't worry, I'm far from putting down my pen, but I am a ways off from learning how to better use it. I'm currently using my energy to find a job that will satisfy my wants from employment, and trying to track down college folk to find out the best course to pursue my education. Right now it's looking like a tie between Ph.D's in Creative Writing, or American and British Literary Modernism. Who knows...maybe I'll get both. In the meantime I am helping a local writer by editing his screenplay. I am rather stalled out on both of my pieces so I figure helping somebody else succeed might be a good way to channel my desire to be artistically involved and keep my chops up (so to speak).

Now, here is the point that I've been wanting to convey to all of you (whomever you may be) for some time now, but somehow lacked the words to voice it. In light of my writer's block I have struggled to put words to paper, or come up with music of my own which only served to bring me to this conclusion. Creativity is useless without inspiration.

Creativity is useless without inspiration.

Look at writers like Woody Allen, or songwriters like Damien Rice. Sure, they still create something; but it's always some jangle of broken ideals and neurotic views on sexual conquest. As if the world needs more of that somehow. Don't read too much into what I'm saying here, I think that Woody Allen and Damian Rice are both very talented artists...I just don't prefer their basic level of material. I trust that both of them occasionally rise above their base levels, but the mob prefers their more crude materials. Then again, I could be wrong. All in all; I feel a great swell of pity for the artists that are trapped in their development by their fans. We fans do a great deal of abuse in that way. But I digress, so I'll just jump right back on track here.

What I've come to in the lack of creative inspiration is a proper view of my own life as being a piece of art. But crafted and wielded by a far worthier Hand. This isn't to say that everything I do is beautiful, or even good and admirable. But more that even the things that come out of me that look ugly are being blended and incorporated into something far greater and more beautiful than I could ever fathom. So rather than capturing these things with a mind and a voice that needs honing, I am content to be a part in what God is doing in the world. I am more content to be a part of that. It's a lot like playing music without recording it. The sound is vibrant and full of life in the present, and then it's gone. I rather prefer things that way right now because, for the time being, to try and hammer them into words would do them injustice. This way I can look on a fonder memory of past beauty as it grows and is distilled by present circumstance. One day (and soon I should hope) I will put all into words, music, or photographs. But for now I'd rather experience the true art.

Of course every once in a while, the bubble will rise in my soul and I will write it down for you, but it may not be often.

Thanks for reading!

~Matticus

May My Insomnia Be Your Blessing

Winds blow,
fates change,
and life continues in endless strain:
the slow march from birth to eternity.

Life!
bursting forth from dawn to dawn
with new stories yet to be told.
Awaited by slumbering ears.

Moving~by Matt Allhands

Devotional Dilemma

So I volunteered to deliver a devotional at this weeks men's prayer breakfast, and I realized that there is a slight problem. My devotional life sucks. It all came to me at once, but I realized that things haven't been quite the same since I came out to Montana 5 years ago. It's as if I've overused, or hyper-extended my external spiritual expressions to the point where I can't put weight on the sprain. Of course this isn't to say that I don't feel close to the Lord or anything else ridiculous like that, but I really just wanted to take the opportunity to pursue the notion of a sprained spiritual expression for the sake of those who may feel the same way from time to time. I've come to notice in the past few months that my Christianity, or my relationship with Jesus has taken an interesting shape over the past year. I see things in a different way than I ever would have anticipated. Definitely not going to be made into a precious moments figurine any time soon. I play my cards pretty close to my chest because I spent the majority of my time with people who: A: Don't understand the things of God. or B: Hate and deride any form of religious sentiment. What's interesting about it is that it has been really good for me. My lack of devotional zeal, and fatigue from work in a "Godless environment" have taken me back down to the cold hard basement of my faith. The concrete, and unalterable truths that, though I'd rather not pursue most of the time, chill my feet with an inescapably solid assurance of a real presence that I'll experience more of later. So, if you're in the same boat, I would exhort you to enjoy your time in the cut and dry period. Life (that is to say, Christ) will eventually lead you and I to far greener pastures, but until then I think it's better to dwell in a harsh reality than a fluffy lie.

Some Thoughts

I haven't written personally in a while now, because I've been busy. I've been busy and tired. Life is quite the force to reckon with sometimes. Especially when you aren't spending your time enjoyably. That is to say, that you aren't doing something you love. But then again, I think some aspects of maturity involve being able to prioritize things well in order to get to a better situation. Children want all good things to come at the same time, and our culture is very childish on that point. Billy Corgan (lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins) said it best "Our culture is set on orgasm, and nobody is interested in the things that have led to a particular artist's greatest work, we just all want the best all the time." (that's a massive paraphrase incidentally). So before I head off to a job that I don't enjoy very much, and shut myself away from the sunshine and springtime for 7 hours.

Here's to the process!

Not the process from one job, house, or town to another. Not some social upgrade. But the process of Life. The grand winding Road that demands we follow. The Doors of opportunity that open and shut, closing whole realities behind them, and at the same time allowing other realities to blossom in all their' wonder or horror. Whatever happens, our final destination will so greatly over shadow the roads we've taken that it will seem as if it were all nothing. Shadows and dust scattered on the winds of eternity. One day, we will arrive home.

"The Trappist Cemetery-Gethsemani"

Brothers, the curving grasses and their daughers
will never print your praises:
The trees our sisters, in their summer dresses,
guard your fame in these green cradles:
The simple crosses are content to hide your characters.

Oh do not fear
the birds that bicker in the lonely belfry
will ever give away your legends.
Yet when the sun, exulting like a dying martyr,
canonizes, with his splendid fie, the sombre hills,
your graves all smile like little children,
and your wise crosses trust the mothering night
that folds them in the Sanctuary's wings.

You need not hear the momentary rumors of the road
where cities pass and vanish in a single car
filling the cut beside the mill
with roar and radio,
hurling the air into the wayside branches
leaving the leaves alive with panic.
See, the kind universe,
wheeling in love about the abbey steeple
lights up your sleepy nursery with stars.

~

God, in your bodily life,
untied the snares of anger and desire,
hid your flesh from envy by these country alters,
beneath these holy eaves where even sparrows have their houses.
But oh, how like the swallows and the chimney swifts
do your free souls in glory play!
And with cleaner flight,
keener, more graceful circles,
rarer, and finer arcs
then all these innocent attacks that skim our steeple!
How like these children of the summer evening
do your rejoicing spirits
deride the dry earth with their aviation!

But now the treble harps of night begin to play in the deep wood,
to praise your holy sleep,
and all the frogs along the creek
chant in the moony waters to the Queen of Peace.
And we, the mariners, and travelers,
the wide-eyed immigrants,
praying and sweating in our steerage cabins,
lie still and count with love the measured bells
that tell the deep-sea leagues until your harbor.

Already on this working earth you knew what nameless love
adorns the heart with peace by night,
hearing, adoring all the dark arrivals of eternity.
Oh, here on earth you knew what secret thirst
arming the mind with instinct,
answers the challenges of God with garrisons
of unified desire
and facing Him in His new wars
is slain at last in an exchange of lives.

Teach us, Cistercian Fathers, how to wear
silence, our humble armor.
Pray us a torrent of the seven spirits
that are our wine and stamina,
because your' work is not yet done.
But look: the valleys shine with promises,
every burning morning is a prophecy of Christ
coming to raise and vindicate
even our sorry flesh.

Then will your graves, Gethsemani, give up their angels,
return them to their souls to learn
the songs of attitude and glory.
Then will creation rise again like gold,
clean from the furnace of your litanies:
the beasts and trees shall share your resurrection,
and a new world be born from these green tombs.

~Thomas Merton

Simplicity

My wife and I were sitting on our porch Sunday evening, and we somehow got onto the topic of simplicity. Simplicity being something we both strive for it's not really so surprising that we would discuss it, but it was one of those spur of the moment deep conversations, and something we both have a lot to say about. I have to pause here to point out the humorous irony in having a lot to say about simplicity. Anywho, when most people think of simplicity thoughts automatically run to undecorated churches, and white washed pews. People praying throughout the day with monk-like devotion. It's a humorous perspective, but a dangerous one as well. To live simply one does not have to do away with their television, or computer, you don't have to don a monk's habit and spent the rest of your life contemplating the existential meaning of a dandelion. Nor should you attempt to withdraw from society and sit on a mountain top for the rest of your days. In the past few years I have come to realize that simplicity is found in the midst of the daily buzz of human activity.
When God created Adam he set him straight to the wonderful task of exploring Eden, and naming animals. When you think of it, naming all the animals in the world could be rather arduous, and here is where you ought to strip away the Disney-esque picture of God parading pachyderms, hippopotamuses, and giraffes in front of a giddy little boy who bounces up and down with excitement over the spectacle. Maybe Adam had to search these creatures out, and observe them prior to the naming. In any case, my point is that we as people were made to be active. Work is in our very nature. So how do we find simplicity in a world that is teeming with conflict, people, and jobs to be done? Single-mindedness might be the only way it is possible. Be singleminded in all that you do. Doubts and questions always arise to kick up dust in our minds. "Am I doing what God has called me to?' 'Is this benefitting the kingdom?' "Is the Lord pleased with my life?' These questions are always going to be answered yes and no all at the same time. Whether you are living in a tent in Africa translating the Bible to a tribal dialect, or working in an office in New York City. God is pleased with his son's imputed righteousness in your life, the sacrifice of the cross stretches through time and wraps our identity in his, and God is pleased. So don't worry so much about it, if you want to go to Africa...go to Africa. If that is where your' heart is, don't waste anymore time worrying about. Regardless of what you are doing, or where you are. Your' current location and activity is the primary concern of you, and of your sanctification. The main job in our lives as Christians falls into two catagories. Living our lives in the light of Godliness brought forth through the Gospel, and worshipping the Living God in word and deed; spirit, and truth. That is true simplicity.

Thoughts Regarding Studying the Bible

Over the last summer I decided that I wanted to be more theologically literate, so I asked three or four trusted friends/pastors and they all told me I should go through a Bible Dictionary to start with. I dove right in, and went through the Pentateuch, and kind of stalled out after that. There was a lot of stuff going on in my life (changing jobs and schedules and so forth) so it kind of fell to the background.
Well last week, I started to think about how much I had learned from those five short little articles, copying down the teaching outlines and reflecting on what I remember from the texts themselves. Compared to a seminarian or a Pastor my knowledge is pretty insignificant, but on a personal note there were many things regarding the Cross and the deity of Jesus that became crystal clear. I've picked my studies back up, and just finished Joshua yesterday. It was great to see the Israelites enter the Promised Land, and to know that even though they were finally delivered into Canaan, that there was still much to do. They still had to live out there lives as God's Chosen people, if anything, it was more difficult for them as a nation after they entered the land than it was before.

Anyway, I just wanted to take a minute to encourage all my friends (Christian and non-Christian alike) to really read and think about the Bible. I know sometimes it's hard to pick it up and just read it, we all have things to do during our day. But what better occupation is there than to dwell on the Grace and sovereignty of God? Sometimes study seems like striving, like some sort of inorganic chore or task, and for most of us we struggle against things that don't feel "natural". But I think God would remind us all that what is natural to us is sin. That is to say that we are used to living our lives as if He weren't there. We might all do better with a little striving now and then. After all, the pursuit of God is active.

Musing

Over the past few weeks I've begun to grasp what it is to be a creation. That is to say that I have come to understand my finite-ness in a very different way. Rather than being frustrated by my lack of output (strictly in an artistic sense), I've been learning to appreciate the fact that, regardless of what I create, I am part of a greater story. It's as if I'm one strand being woven through a greater work, and what I might be tempted to call a loose end will one day wind it's way to a fitting destination. And, because of that wondrous notion (that I am a mere character questioning my author) I can look back on the recently past years of my life and find some sort of peace with them.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
stand in the desert...Near them, on the sand,
half shrunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
and wrinkled lip, a sneer of cold command,
tell that it's sculptor well those passions read
which yet survived, stamped on these lifeless things,
the hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
the lone level sands stretch far away.
Ozymandias ~P.B Shelley